Carilion History: Life-Guard
Patient transportation has come a long way since the horse-drawn ambulances of the early 1900s. Through the years, technology has improved patient transportation—whether on the ground or in the air.
Life-Guard 10 was purchased in 1982 to speed response times to communities in rural western Virginia; it was the first air medical service in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The helicopter held one pilot and one paramedic and could transport one patient.
A flight nurse program was started in 1985. A twin-engine helicopter was added to the program soon after, which allowed neonatal patients to be transported in isolettes for the first time. It also could transport two patients.
In the 1990s, we added a new helicopter that could transport up to four patients and the pilot, nurse and medic. In the 2000s, a second base was added to serve more of the region.
Now, we have Life-Guard 10 based out of Westlake, Life-Guard 11 based out of Christiansburg and Live-Guard 12 based out of Lexington to provide 24-hour transport for Southwest Virginia as well as parts of West Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee—more than 15,000 square miles.
Medical equipment onboard includes:
- Cardiac monitoring, defibrillation and external pacing devices
- Critical care medications and infusion pumps
- Video laryngoscope and surgical airway devices
- Specialized pediatric care equipment
- Critical care ventilator
- Blood products
- Neonatal isolette (as needed)
- Intra-aortic balloon pump (as needed)
We partner with Med-Trans Corporation, who owns and operates the fleet and employs our pilots and aviation mechanics.
Clinical care onboard the aircrafts is provided by paramedics and registered nurses who have experience in their field, receive specialized training in flight physiology and are certified in air medical transport and critical care.
